2016 Authors

Elana Arnold completed her M.A. in Creative Writing/Fiction at the University of California, Davis. She grew up in Southern California, where she was lucky enough to have her own horse–a gorgeous mare named Rainbow–and a family who let her read as many books as she wanted. She lives in Huntington Beach, California, with her husband, two children, and a menagerie of animals.

Jay Asher has worked at an independent bookstore, an outlet bookstore, a chain bookstore, and two public libraries. He hopes, someday, to work for a used bookstore. When he is not writing, Jay plays guitar and goes camping.

Alexis Bass grew up in Washington, went to college in Arizona, and spent her early twenties in Seattle. She currently lives in Northern California with Dylan McKay, her gorgeous and rambunctious golden retriever. She loves good fashion and good TV as much as a good book, and is a huge advocate of the three C’s: coffee, chocolate, and cheese.

Virginia Boecker recently spent four years in London obsessing over English medieval history, which formed the basis of The Witch Hunter. She now lives in the Bay Area, California with her husband and spends her days writing, reading, running, and chasing around her two children and a dog named George. In addition to English kings, nine-day queens, and Protestant princesses, her other obsessions include The Smiths, art museums, champagne, and Chapstick.

Jessica Brody knew from a young age that she wanted to be a writer. She started self “publishing” her own books when she was seven years old, binding the pages together with cardboard, wallpaper samples, and electrical tape. After graduating from Smith College in 2001 where she double majored in Economics and French and minored in Japanese, Jessica later went on to work for MGM Studios as a Manager of Acquisitions and Business Development. In May of 2005, Jessica quit her job to follow her dream of becoming a published author.

Stephanie Diaz first knew she wanted to be an author when she was in second grade, sitting in a book club drinking tea and reading books like The Egypt Game. Now twenty-three years old, she lives in San Diego with her family. She graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in film production and a publishing deal for a young adult sci-fi trilogy. She is the author of Extraction, Rebellion,and Evolution. When she isn’t lost in other worlds, she can be found singing, marveling at the night sky, or fangirling over TV shows.

Brad Gottfred refuses to write a biography but confesses to being crazy in a variety of ways. His debut novel, Forever for a Year, was released in 2015.

Kristin Halbrook is an American author of young adult fiction. Nobody But Us, her debut novel, was published on January 29, 2013 by HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. The novel has been optioned by Haven Entertainment for development as a film project.

Michelle Levy was born and raised in Littleton, Colorado, where she memorized books before she was able to read, tricking her parents into thinking she was a genius. At eighteen she moved to Los Angeles, to pursue a career in casting for film and television. Michelle always secretly harbored a desire to write. She spent many insomnia-filled nights dreaming up stories that she never thought to write down. When she finally set out to get something on the page, the words flew out of her until she had her first completed manuscript and she never looked back. She still lives in Los Angeles, but desperately misses thunderstorms, and even the occasional snowstorm, so she visits Colorado quite often.

Nicole Maggi was born in the suburbs of upstate New York and began writing poems about unicorns and rainbows at a very early age. She detoured into acting, earned a BFA from Emerson College, and moved to NYC, where she performed in lots of off-off-Broadway Shakespeare. After a decade of schlepping groceries on the subway, she and her husband hightailed it to sunny Los Angeles, where they now reside, surrounded by fruit trees, with their young daughter and two oddball cats.

Mary McCoy is a writer and a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library. She has also been a contributor to On Bunker Hill and the 1947project, where she wrote stories about Los Angeles’s notorious past. She grew up in western Pennsylvania and studied at Rhodes College and the University of Wisconsin. Mary now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son. Her debut novel, Dead To Me, is a YA mystery set in the glamorous, treacherous world of 1940s Hollywood.

Marissa Meyer’s debut novel, Cinder was released on January 3, 2012. It is the first in her new series, “The Lunar Chronicles”. Meyer was born in Tacoma, Washington and attended Pacific Lutheran University, where she received a degree in creative writing. Before writing Cinder, Meyer worked as a book editor for five years and wrote Sailor Moon fan fiction under the pen name of Alicia Blade. In an interview with The News-Tribune, she said that doing the fan fiction helped her learn the craft of writing, gave her instant feedback and taught her how to take criticism.

Alexandra Monir broke onto the scene in her early twenties with the release of her popular debut YA novel, the paranormal romance Timeless. The sequel, Timekeeper, was published in 2013. Suspicion marks Alexandra’s first novel outside of the Timeless series, as well as her first foray into the mystery genre. Her fourth YA novel for Random House will be published in April 2016.

Andrew Smith is the award-winning author of several Young Adult novels, including the critically acclaimed Grasshopper Jungle and Winger. He is a native-born Californian who spent most of his formative years traveling the world. His university studies focused on Political Science, Journalism, and Literature. He has published numerous short stories and articles. He lives in Southern California.

April Genevieve Tucholke is the critically acclaimed author of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and Between the Spark and the Burn. She curated the horror/thriller anthology Slasher Girls & Monster Boys, and her third novel, Wink Poppy Midnight, will be released March 22, 2016 from Dial/Penguin. April has lived in many places around the world and she currently resides in Oregon with her husband.